Fitting Together
by CathGilLove
Summary: A new CSI joins the team. Part of her life makes Gil realize what might be happening to him. Gil and Catherine grow closer and Greg discovers that Nick is secretly seeing Sara.
1. Default Chapter

Title: Fitting Together

Author: A new CSI joins the team. Part of her life makes Gil realize what might be happening to him. Gil and Catherine grow closer and Greg discovers that Nick is secretly seeing Sara.

Rating: R

Category: G/C; N/S

Disclaimer: Nothing that is here is mine except the characters of Caroline, Lauren and Sam.

"Aren't we supposed to go check out the latest crime scene?" Nick asked, fiddling with a bookmark on Gil's desk.

Catherine snatched the bookmark away. "That's where Gil and Sara went. He wanted us to wait here for the new girl and then to take her with us if there are any new cases."

Nick grinned. "You're awful possessive since you and Gil started seeing each other."

Catherine looked at the bookmark she was absently stroking in her hand, and blushing put it back on the desk. "And you're jealous that Sara is out working without you."

Nick frowned. "I am not."

Greg walked into the room. "I hear there is a new lovely lady coming to work for us."

"We don't know if she's lovely yet," Nick said gruffly.

Greg glanced at him then looked at Catherine. "What's his problem?"

Catherine smiled. "Nick's thinking of getting green contact lenses."  


Looking confused, Greg sat down in one of the free chairs.

"What are you doing?" Nick asked.

"Waiting for her. I want to be able to meet her before you guys put ugly thoughts into her head."

A redhead female knocked on the door. "Um, I'm guessing that none of you are Gil Grissom."

Greg jumped up. "I might be."

The woman smiled. "You look like you just graduated high school."

"I'm Catherine Willows," Cath said, extending a hand. "Gil is out on a case."

The woman shook her hand. "Caroline Farrell."

"Nick Stokes," Nick said gruffly.

"This is Greg," Catherine said, gesturing to the man who was looking cross. "Sometimes we wonder if he has just graduated high school."

"I'm wounded," Greg told her, rolling his eyes. He nodded to Caroline. "I have multitudes of laboratory space to negotiate, so if you guys will excuse me, I shall go attend to it."

*************************************************

Catherine walked into Gil's office and stood silently, watching him reading a journal.

He noticed her presence and looked up. "Hey."

"Hi," she said and walked to the front of his desk. "Who are you going to assign to take cases with Caroline?"

Gil sat back in his chair. "Probably Sara or Nicky. Why?"

"I want to do it."  


He folded his arms. "Why?"

She sighed and sat down. "Because after what happened to Holly Gribbs…I want to do it."

"Catherine, what happened to Holly happened three years ago."

"That doesn't make me feel any less responsible. Please. I really want this."

Gil sighed. "Okay."

Catherine walked over to him and hugged him.

"Cath…why are you smelling me?" He grinned. "Sara and I showered after we had sex." Gil chuckled as he heard her choke and jumped when she hit his shoulder.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"That was a terrible thing to say."

Gil pulled her to sit on his lap. "The only person I have ever wanted to make love to is you. And that's the way it's going to stay."

She kissed him gently. "I know." She got up. "I better go find Caroline."

Before she left a knock came at the door. A man looked around it.

"I was wondering where I could find Caroline Farrell?" he asked. 

His voice reminded Grissom of many of the people he had met at the deaf school. "Sure," he signed back. "I'm Gil Grissom."

"Sam Farrell," he replied, shaking Gil's hand.

"I'm Catherine Willows," Cath signed. Gil had been teaching her since they had been together.

They all walked along to the corridor where Greg was showing Caroline the DNA lab. She was attempting to look impressed as he made a showy flashing of the equipment.

"Don't mind Greg," Catherine said. "He wouldn't have a normal day if he couldn't show off."

Caroline had looked up and smiled as she saw her husband there. She came outside.   
  
"What are you doing here? Is Lauren okay?"  


Sam rolled his eyes. "Your mother is with her."

Caroline wrinkled her nose. "Wonderful. Are you okay?"

"I like watching you work. I thought I'd come and see how you were doing."

"I'm fine." She squeezed his hand. "You didn't have to come."

"I know. But I wanted to make sure you were okay." He looked at her. "You are okay, aren't you?"

Caroline closed her eyes briefly. "I'm fine. Trust me."

He nodded. "'Kay. I'll see you later then." He turned to Catherine and Grissom. "It was nice meeting you."

"You too," Catherine smiled watching him leave.

Gil fell into step with Sam as they walked down the corridor. "Uh, Sam, I was wondering if you would be free for lunch some time?" He sighed. "I'm losing my hearing and…"

Sam nodded. "It's not easy." He handed a card to him. "I teach at the children's deaf school. Give me a call."  


Gil smiled. "Thanks."  
************************************************************************

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Sara asked, catching Nick's eye as he watched her change her shirt. 

"Watching you," he replied.

Sara raised an eyebrow. "Having fun?"

"Loads," Nick smiled. He walked over to her and kissed her gently. "You look good."

"For someone who just had to shower after falling into a mudpit, I'd hope so."

"You fell into a mudpit?"  


She put a finger to his lips. "Please don't ask."  


He grinned. "Did anyone get a photo?"

"That was really mean," she pouted.

Nick kissed her again. "Sorry."

"You're forgiven."

Nick turned to go and then stopped. "Hey, does this mean you won't be having one of those mudpack things?" He chuckled and narrowly missed a shirt that went flying past his head.

************************************************************************  
  
Part 2  



	2. 2

Part 2  


  
Lindsay and Catherine stared sweetly at Gil as he sat down at the table. He narrowed his eyes. "Okay, what's going on?"  
  
"Why would anything be going on Uncle Gil?" Lindsay asked, twirling some pasta on her fork.

"Catherine?" Gil asked.

"Okay, okay. Lindsay and I were thinking that we might clean out the basement this weekend."

"I'm sure a reason that you're elated about this will be forthcoming," Gil replied.

"We're going to put your bugs down there!" Lindsay cried excitedly.

Catherine smiled. "We thought that since you spend so much time over here, you might like to have a place for your bugs too. That way you don't have to go back and forth all the time."

"Do you like the surprise Uncle Gil?" Lindsay asked, excitement about to burst forth.

Gil smiled and shared a fond look with Catherine. "I love it."

***********************************************************************

"PLEASE!!!" Lauren begged her mother.

"No."

"But mum! Jamie Kensington's dad is a firefighter and he's bringing a firetruck! And Laurie's mother is a TV anchor and she's taking them to the station!"

"Yeah, and what would your teacher say if I turned up at a primary school with parts of a dead body and a forensic team?"

"Cool?" Lauren said hopefully.

"Not likely. Plus the Las Vegas crimelab would be fielding complaints from all the parents in your class."

"What about just the head? Or a foot? Or…"

************************************************************************

"Warrick, Nick, you're on the burglary downtown. Cath, you and Caroline have got one at the hospital." He handed the card to Caroline and watched as she hesitated slightly before taking it and quickly handing it to Catherine.   
Gil's eyes narrowed. "Sara, you're with me." 

They all left the room, Catherine sending Gil a strange look as she did. Gil smiled at her reassuringly, and when everyone was gone, he turned to Sara.

"Do you still have all your contacts in the field?"  


Sara nodded. "Sure. But what does that have to do with a hit and run?" she asked, holding up the paper.

"It doesn't," Gil admitted. "I want you to do a run on Caroline. See what pops up."  


Sara raised an eyebrow. "What for?"

"Something's not right."

************************************************************************

"I'll go and talk to the victim. Can you go and see the doctor?" Catherine asked.

Caroline nodded. "Sure."

She disappeared down the hallway, leaving Catherine more than a little confused.

************************************************************************

"He's punishing me," Nick said, dusting for fingerprints.

Warrick raised an eyebrow. "Who? And for what?"

"Grissom! He won't give me cases with Sara!"  


Warrick groaned. "Come on! You're as bad as Catherine!"

Nick looked at him. "What are you talking about?"  


Warrick rolled his eyes. "Never mind."

************************************************************************

"Back so soon?" Gil asked, as Catherine walked into his office.

Catherine nodded. "Yeah. Greg is backed up so Caroline offered to sweet talk him."  


Gil leaned back in his chair. "Uh, how did she seem?"

"Fine." She sat on his lap. "Why?"

"Nothing," he replied, hugging her to him. "Just a feeling." He leant up and kissed her. 

"Grissom?" Sara asked, coming into the room. "I got the stuff on Caroline."

Catherine turned to him. "You looked her up?"

"His instincts were right," Sara told her. She glanced at Grissom. 

"Catherine's keeping an eye on her. She should hear this too."

"It's…uh…not good."

Gil looked at her expectantly. Sara sighed and came in, sitting down on the chair opposite Gil's. 

"I got this from some files they sent to me from New York." Sara flipped it open. "It may explain why you thought she was hesitant this morning in taking the rape case."

Catherine flashed a look at Gil. "You didn't tell me that."

"It was just a feeling," Gil replied. "Go on, Sara."

"When she was seven months pregnant she went out to process a rape scene with a rookie. The rookie got sick and she sent the kid home." Sara took a breath. "The guy came back. She was in hospital for four months"

Catherine's eyes closed briefly. "Was the baby Lauren?"

Sara shook her head. "Lauren was born when she was twenty. Her father isn't mentioned. After the attack, they had to do an emergency c-section." Sara shut the folder. "The baby was stillborn. They found massive brain hemorrhaging."

"I don't want her taking any rape cases," Gil said.

Sara looked up at him. "She's going to notice."

"I don't care. She won't be working those cases. Thanks for getting the information, Sara."

Sara stood up. "No problem."

After she left the room, Catherine turned to Gil.

"Do you know what you're doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"First you look up her files, now you're taking her off any rape cases?"

"You want me to put her on them?"

Catherine sighed. "No, but she should have the option." She folded her arms. "That's not why this is really bugging you, is it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You've been looking for a way to get me off rape cases since we started dating. The minute we went out you gave them all to Sara if you possibly could. You know that I'm going to take Caroline with me when I go out on a case and by stopping her from taking these cases you stop me by proxy."

"This has nothing to do with you, Catherine."

She walked up to him. "Look me in the eye and tell me that this has nothing to do with us."

"I'm doing it for Caroline's sake and to keep the cases clean without being prejudged."

Catherine sighed. "Fine. But I know you Gil Grissom. And I noticed you didn't deny anything." She grabbed her bag. "I'll see you at home."

Gil watched her stomp out of the room and slam the door behind her. He sighed and sunk down into his chair.

************************************************************************

Part 3  



	3. 3

Part 3

Lindsey looked between her mother and Gil as she sat at the table, eating with them. Gil looked tired and her mother looked angry.

"Is everything okay?" she asked tentatively.

Catherine was silent and Gil smiled calmly at Lindsey.

"Everything's fine, Linds. We're just tired, that's all."

Lindsey snorted. "No big surprise. I'm going to need new batteries for my Walkman soon."

Catherine widened her eyes in surprise and Gil nearly choked on his dinner.

Lindsey rolled her eyes. "Come on, guys. I'm in third grade! Everyone knows about sex."  


Catherine raised an eyebrow and sat back in her chair. "Really?"

Lindsey realised that perhaps this was a bad moment to bring it up what she learnt in the school playground. "Ah, great dinner, mum. Gotta go. Heaps of homework." With that she disappeared from the room and they heard the distant slam of her bedroom door.

"And then there were two," Gil said, standing up and gathering plates. 'Wash or dry?"

"Whatever," Catherine replied, blowing out the candles and following him into the kitchen.

"Catherine, we should talk about this."

"Talk about what?" she asked, putting the leftovers in a container.

"What happened at work yesterday."

"It's our day off. Let's not talk about work."

Gil took her hand. "I think we need to."

She turned to face him. "Why?"

"Cath…"

"I know you almost as well as I know myself, Gil. There are no secrets between us, remember? I know how long you've wanted to get me off rape cases and cases involving children. So you've succeeded in one avenue."

"This isn't about you, Cath."

She frowned. "Really?"

"No one asked you to baby-sit Caroline."

"Don't throw this back on me," she warned him. "You were out of line. If it had been Sara or Nick, or anyone else, you would have talked to Caroline before shutting her out of rape cases. But with me, you just went ahead and did it."  


Gil sighed. "I'm not going to lie to you. I love you and I hate you having to do cases like these. But this was not about you. If Sara, or Nick or anyone else had been with Caroline, I would still have done it."

She folded her arms in front of her. "Gil…I want you to talk to me about stuff like this. What bothers you."

He put his hands on her arms. "I know. I'm sorry."

"I don't like being mad at you."

"I don't like you being mad at me either. Hell hath no fury like Catherine Willows when she's cranky."  


She cracked a slight smile and heaved herself up onto the counter. "C'mere," she beckoned.

He walked between her legs and hugged her, breathing in the smell of her flowery shampoo. "I love you so much, you know that right?"

Catherine looked at him. "I know. I love you back." She urged his head down and their lips met in a long, deep kiss.

***********************************************************************

Sara knelt down beside the dead body and Nick knelt beside her.

"Nothing more romantic than being together at a crime scene, is there?" he asked.

Sara looked at him and chuckled. "You're a sick man, Nick."

He grinned. "I'm being good. Let's process and get this shift over and done with."

Sara raised an eyebrow. "Have something planned, do we?"

"Let's just say it doesn't involve us with a dead body."

"Glad to hear it. Does it involve a hot bubble bath?"

"That fits two? Absolutely."

"Evidence, Nick."

"Bubbles, Sara."

************************************************************************

"Tell them."

"No."

"Caroline…"

"I said no, okay Sam? It's not important." Caroline got into bed and picked up a book on blood spatter. 

Sam got into bed beside her and frowned, signing furiously at her.

"I may not be watching you but I know you're swearing in ASL," she signed back.

He signed back at her and she frowned.

"Hey! It happened to me! Not you, not anyone else. Me! And I don't need you or anyone else pitying me."

He turned and forced her to look at him. "It happened to both of us." With that he turned out the light and went to sleep.

************************************************************************

Sara watched Catherine and Gil carefully, noticing that their previously foul moods seemed to have disappeared.

However whatever raincloud had been hovering over them seemed to have drifted over to Caroline, who looked upset about something.

"Alright, Sara, Warrick, I want you to take the case downtown. Sara, you should see the victim. She's at the hospital." He shuffled through his notes. "Ah, Caroline, Catherine, a burglary at the Monaco and Nick, we have a suspected arson."

There was silence for a moment, as Caroline and Catherine looked at Gil.

"A burglary?" Caroline asked, first to break the silence. She noticed Sara, Catherine and Gil looking uncomfortable and she folded her arms. "Have I missed a memo?"

Nick, Warrick and Sara decided to leave the room. Gil looked at Catherine and Caroline.

"How about we go into my office?"

*****************************************************************

"What's going on?" Caroline asked, sitting on the offered seat and facing Gil. Catherine sat on the counter behind him.

Catherine nodded to Gil, who sighed.

"We saw your records."

Caroline's face darkened. "What?"

"We know about what happened in New York," Gil said.

Caroline was silent for a moment, digesting the information just received. "So you decide just to jump in and take me off cases? Without asking me first?"

"You're emotionally involved in every rape case you take. You were a victim," Gil said calmly.

"I know I was a victim," she cried. "Believe me, I know. And you have no right to dictate how I do my job. How do you know that my experience doesn't help me in my cases?"

"How do I know that it does?" Gil shot back.

Caroline sighed and got up. "We better get out on the field."

"I'll catch you up," Catherine said, watching her leave. She got down from the counter and changed her spot to sitting on Gil's desk. "That went well."  


Gil rubbed his face with his hands. "I didn't handle that well."  


She took one of his hands in her own. "We both knew she'd be angry. Besides, you managed to calm me down."

Gil smiled slightly. "With you I had an advantage."  


Catherine smiled back. "Believe me, if I had been really angry at you, you'd have known about it. I was just a little…"

"Upset? Ticked off? Angry?"

"I love you. But I don't need you to protect me."

Gil kissed her hands. "I know. And I'm sorry. But I just…you're a great CSI. The best I know. But god, Catherine, I hate knowing you seeing all that pain. I want life for you to be perfect."

She bent down so she was eye to eye with him. "It is. I have you, Lindsey and I get to solve puzzles every night. It is."

He leant up and kissed her gently. "You better go work your crime scene."

She nodded and slipped down from the table. "Remember what I said, Gil. Never doubt, never look back." She kissed him on the cheek. "Love you hon."

*******************************************************************  
  
Part 4  



	4. 4

Part 4

The next day, Catherine slipped out and drove over to Caroline's. She rang the doorbell and waited.

"Hi," Caroline said, opening the door slightly.

"I wanted to talk to you," Catherine said. "Can I come in?"

Caroline nodded and opened the door, standing back to let Catherine walk into a living room. 

She noticed the bell by the floor and looked at Caroline questioningly.

"It vibrates along the floorboards so that Sam can hear when the doorbell rings," Caroline explained. She smiled slightly. "Lauren wanted fluorescent lights, but we got her out of that phase quickly enough."

Catherine smiled. "Sounds like something Lindsey would do."

Lauren came racing into the room then, squealing and hiding behind her mother as Sam raced in after her. When the duo realised they had company, the squealing ceased.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Lauren, this is Ms Willows."

Catherine stuck out a hand. "Catherine."

"Hi," Lauren replied, shaking her hand.

"We were just about to get a snack," Sam signed. "Do you want anything?" he asked Caroline and Catherine.

"No thanks," Catherine signed back.

Caroline shook her head and smiled at him.

Lauren and Sam disappeared and Caroline gestured for Cath to have a seat.

"Your daughter is great," Catherine smiled.

Caroline nodded. "Does this have something to do with what happened yesterday?"

"Yeah. I wanted to apologise for not telling you sooner that we had seen your records."

Caroline wrapped her arms around herself. "I should have been prepared for it. Besides, you had a right to see them."

"It was Sam's baby?" Catherine asked.

Caroline's eyes looked up and she nodded. "Yeah, it was his."

"I can't believe you still want to work on cases like that anyway," Catherine said.

"I didn't at first," Caroline replied. "And I wasn't allowed to either. But after a while, I felt I owed it to the other victims to find out the truth."

"And sometimes the truth really sucks."

"Amen to that."

"When I looked at the case file there wasn't…well it didn't say if he had been caught."

"He wasn't," Caroline replied bluntly. "Coffee?"

************************************************************************

"Do not open any of those containers until you're downstairs and the door is shut," Catherine warned, as Lindsey and Gil began bringing some of the bug containers in.

"You have no sense of adventure Catherine," Gil told her. "If you come downstairs, I'll introduce you to some of them."

Catherine arched an eyebrow. "Me? Introduced to your bugs?"

Lindsey nodded in excitement. "Yeah, there's the Beatles, Lenny, Michael and there's even…"

"Shh!" Gil said, quickly. "Not yet,"

Cath folded her arms. "What?"

"Nothing," Lindsey said, disappearing down into the basement.

"Wait till I get the bugs settled in," Gil said to her. "Then I'll show you."

Half an hour later he returned. "Come with me."

Suspiciously she took his hand, as he led her down to the basement. Lindsey was still down there, watching a particularly ugly-looking spider crawl around his cage.

He led her past it, to a small clear box where a cocoon was lying inside. "Meet Catherine," he said.

Cath stared at the box. "What?"

He stood behind her, arms around her waist. "When she comes out of her cocoon, she'll be a butterfly. A particularly beautiful one at that."

She turned around in his arms and smiled. "You named her after me?"

Lindsey turned around. "Are you two going to kiss now? Cos if so, I'm going to go start my homework."

Catherine kept staring at Gil. "Homework."

Lindsey rolled her eyes and ran up the stairs. 

"Why?" Cath asked.

Gil shrugged. "Because I wanted to."

She smiled and kissed him. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Now?" he replied, pulling her closer.

She nodded. "Mhm."

"Go ahead," he smiled.

"I want you to move in. I want us all to live together. You, me and Lindsey."

Gil's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Catherine smiled. "Yeah. I want us to move further."

Gil smiled back at her. "I'll get the rest of my things tomorrow."

She laughed, kissing him again. "I'll help."

*****************************************************************

Sara rooted around in the fridge, ignoring the various peculiar things that Grissom left in there and finally spied her fruit salad. She frowned at Nick's ham sandwich, and was about to toss it somewhere when the man in question appeared behind her and took it.

"You're disgusting," she told him, as he took a bite.

"What?" he asked. "I like ham!"

"Do you know how…?"

"Yes, I know where ham comes from. But thanks for the nutritional lesson."

"You know, to make this relationship work…"

"We have to compromise." He grinned and walked over to her. "If you want, I can promise not to kiss you when I've just eaten meat."

"That's going to be interesting." She leaned up and kissed him gently. "Hmm. Not bad. I'll have to experiment a bit more though." Sara pulled his face down to meet hers and kissed him deeply.

Neither noticed Greg Sanders standing at the door.

*******************************************************************

Caroline frowned as she flicked through some of the crime scene photos that she had taken at the latest scene. She had bullied Grissom into giving her a 426 and was beginning to regret it. Memories began seeping back into her mind…

_"Don't fight it." _

_Tears sprung in her eyes, as pain began to radiate from her abdomen down. She tasted blood on her lips, not daring to open her eyes as the rope tightened around her wrists._

_Another blow, another shot of pain._

_She tasted something bitter on her lips…vodka…and she gagged around the liquid as it burned down her throat._

_Another blow, another shot of pain…_

"Caroline!" Catherine cried, for the third time.

"Huh?" Caroline asked, her head turning to Catherine.

"I was called you three times. Where were you?"

"Sorry. Just looking over this evidence. Sometimes it takes me in."  
  
Catherine folded her arms. "Don't let it take you in too far."

Caroline laughed slightly and put the papers back on the table. "Not a problem."

"Okay," Catherine nodded, "as long as you're sure." She dangled an evidence bag. "I'm going to take this over to Greg. Robbins found traces of alcohol in her system. We're going to see if maybe a drink was spiked."

"I'll be right there," Caroline replied. She glanced at the victim's folder. Female. Caucasian. Five months pregnant. She frowned and followed Catherine.

*********************************************************************

Part 5  



	5. 5

Part 5  
  
"Okay Greg, what have you got?" Catherine asked. 

"I've been betrayed," Greg pouted, looking through the fridge.

"Very nice. Did you find out what the sample was?"

"You're not listening," Greg replied.

"Where would he keep it?" Caroline asked, looking on his desk.

"Ah ah! That's private property," Greg replied. He fished around on the desk and handed them a piece of paper. "Vodka. Standard. Anything else?"

"Nothing yet," Catherine said. "Unless, hope against hope, you've processed everything else I brought in here."  


Greg gave her a look. "Have you seen what Grissom has me doing tonight? And…"

"And you're betrayed, we know," Catherine replied.

"Exactly," Greg nodded. 

Caroline glanced over the sheet of paper. "Greg, can you do me a special favour and put a rush on the labs?"

"I'll see what I can do," Greg answered.

Catherine, with a bemused expression, followed Caroline out of the room. "Is there something going on that I should know about?"

"Nothing. Just an idea."

"Want to share it?"

Caroline shook her head. "Not yet. I'm probably totally off base anyhow."

"Okay," Catherine said slowly. "I just have to go and talk to Gil for a moment. I'll meet you in the breakroom?"

Caroline nodded. "Sure."

************************************************************************

"Oh, hey," Jim Brass said, as Caroline walked into his office. "What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you could look up some stats for me."

Jim narrowed his eyes. "What kind of stats?"

"Unsolved rapes on pregnant women across the US."

"You've got to be kidding me. There could be literally thousands."

"Okay, narrow them to women over four months pregnant and those that are brutalized."

Jim typed into the computer. "Still got a lot."

"Victims that survived and were forced to drink vodka before the rape."

"That's a bit more workable," Jim replied. 

"Can I have a printout?"

"What do you want this for?"

"For a case I'm working on at the moment. Please."  


Jim frowned. "Does Catherine know about this?"

Caroline gave him a look.

"Personally, I wouldn't care, but you're talking about three cities here. New York, Las Vegas and New Jersey. That's three jurisdictions, two of them not ours."

"Can you at least try?"

With a grumbled, "I'll see," Brass acceded and Caroline left the room.

***********************************************************************

An hour later Brass walked into Gil's office, where he found Cath as well. "Just the two I was looking for. Two out of three isn't too bad."

"What is it?" Cath asked.

"Lists of women fitting your current case from Jersey, New York and Vegas. Caroline asked for them. I'm not sure where she is, so here you go."  


Catherine swore under her breath. "That's what she was up to."

"What?" Gil asked, still completely clueless.

Catherine thrust the papers at him. "Look at this one in New York in particular. It's the same MO."

"Where is she now?" Gil asked, frowning.

"I'll go find her," Catherine replied, stalking out of the room.

**********************************************************************

Caroline looked up as a pile of papers fell in front of her. "Hey," she said to Catherine.

"Gil wants you off the case."

"What?"

"Brass brought these to me. He couldn't find you and since I'm supposed to be your partner on this case he thought I should have them." Catherine sighed and sat across from Caroline. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I have to work this case. I have to find him and I'll know better than anyone when I do."

"And you'll just get emotionally involved and make mistakes."

"You can't tell me that you're not emotionally involved after talking to the victim."

"Talking to the victim and being the victim is a very different thing."

"Look, we don't even know it's the same guy…"

"Look at the MO, Caroline. If it's not the same guy it's pretty damn close." Catherine took the papers back again. "Shift is nearly over. Go home. Spend some time with your husband and daughter. And let me find the bastard. I promise we'll call you if we get anything."

Caroline nodded. "I've got something I have to do anyway."

"Okay. See you later."

************************************************************************

_She winced at the hand pressed against her stomach._

_"Pregnant, I see."_

_She whimpered, something that she had never thought she would do._

_"Well, you might get to meet your kid sooner than expected. They say that sex makes a baby come faster. Should we find out?"_

_Pain seared through her body, tears forming at the corner of her eyes._

Caroline sat up in bed, breathing heavily. She glanced beside her, where Sam slept soundly. She got up and walked over to her dressing table and slowly slid the drawer open. For a moment she stared at the box that sat nestled amongst her clothes. She frowned and shut the drawer again.

************************************************************************

  
Part 6  



	6. 6

Part 6 

"Standard vodka, nothing special about it," Greg said.

Catherine groaned. "Greg, there has to be something in all the crap we've handed over. We need to find this bastard."

"Check this out," Nick said, walking into the room. "The same gag was used for all three states."

Catherine wrinkled her nose. "He never cleaned it?"

"DNA of all three women on it," Greg agreed. "But we've had that information before."

"We're never going to find this bastard," Nick groaned.

"Don't say that," Catherine fired back at him. "We're going to find him. We're good CSI's. I refuse to let him win."  
************************************************************************

After seeing Lauren off to school and after once again refusing the request to take a body part with her, Caroline went and crawled back into bed. Her body clock was haywire and she was exhausted. And something she missed, and yearned for, something that had been lost in this house for a while, was the one thing she was afraid of doing ever since she had taken this case.

She had almost fallen asleep when her husband tapped on her shoulder and smiled down at her. 

"Hey. Do you want some breakfast?"

She took his hand and urged him to sit next to her. "I want something else."  


He looked at her questioningly and she moved closer, kissing him gently.

************************************************************************

Catherine opened the bag of forensic evidence and sighed, not enjoying her task one bit. She glanced at the small container that held the fibres. "Nicky, how come these never got analysed?"

Nick ran his eyes over the report. "Forensics expert said there was no need. The victim said she had gone home, had a shower, and then had sex with her husband. It was during that that he found out what happened and took her to the hospital. They reckoned it was the husbands." He frowned slightly. "Why would you go have sex with your husband after you'd been raped?"

Catherine shrugged. "People deal with things in different ways, Nicky. Sex is a good way to help you forget about something bad." She picked the container up. "I think we better go and get this to Greg."

************************************************************************

Her knees drawn up to her chest, Caroline watched as her husband got out of the shower and into some clean clothes.

He sensed her watching him and turned to her. "What?"

"Nothing," she signed back, her gaze falling down to her feet.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, walking out to the bedroom. "You've been acting a bit weird lately. Is work okay?"

She nodded quickly. "Work is fine."

Sam sat beside her on the bed. "It seems a lot of things are fine, lately."

The phone rang then and Caroline snatched it up. "Farrell. Okay. I'm coming." She put the phone down and smiled apologetically at her husband. "I have to go. They need me at the lab."

Sam nodded mutely and watched her go.

************************************************************************

"Miss me too much?" Caroline teased, as she walked into the breakroom where Catherine sat.

Catherine smiled wanly. "That too." She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "You should sit down."  


Caroline sat down. "What's going on?"

"We were going through some of the old case files. Nicky and me. We found a hair in an evidence container. We took a look under the microscope. It still had a skin tag, which contradicted the original CSI's report that it was from a victim's husband."

Caroline closed her eyes, not willing to get her hopes up. "DNA?"

"We matched DNA to a Thomas Mantle. He's still in Las Vegas."

Fear gripped Caroline's body. "He is?"

"Brass has gone to his last known address." Catherine looked at her. "Do you remember anything at all about it?"  


"Everything," Caroline said quietly, looking at her hands. "I remember everything."

"Did you see him at all?"

Caroline shook her head. "No." Her mind seemed to regress. "But I felt him. Everywhere. It hurt so much." Her arms wrapped around herself. "I kept thinking about the baby. The blood, it was everywhere. I could smell him. It was like a heavy cologne." She felt Catherine's hand on her shoulder and she jerked back to reality. "I'm sorry. It's been…getting to me lately."

"You should have said something."

"There's nothing much to say. It's all in the file."

"We have to…we need you to…"

"Identify him? I can't Cath. The only thing I remember about him is his smell."

Catherine nodded and squeezed her shoulder. "I'll go talk to Brass."  
***********************************************************************

"His smell?"

Catherine sighed and flopped into the chair. She wanted nothing more to go home and curl up around Gil's body and sleep for the rest of the night. But this had become a quest for her. "That's all she remembers. Nick is trying to contact the two other women."

"Bust," Nick said, coming in.

"What?" Jim asked him.

"I tried contacting the first woman. She moved and left no forwarding address. The second one committed suicide two years ago."

"Oh geez," Jim said, rubbing his forehead. "Okay, what HAVE we got?"

"Thomas Mantle," Catherine said. "Sitting in an interview room."

"And we have got a victim."

"Who doesn't remember much about the guy except his smell."

"You know," Catherine said, folding her arms, "perhaps it's been blocked out."

"You mean like selective amnesia?" Nick asked.

Catherine nodded. "After a traumatic event, victims sometimes block out parts or all of what happened. Some studies have shown that when confronted with the attacker, the memories return."

Jim raised an eyebrow. "So you're theory is to throw Caroline Farrell into a room with Thomas Mantle and see what happens?"

"Do we have any better ideas?"

"I don't know," Jim said. "But that doesn't seem like a particularly good one."

"Didn't one of those studies mention a visual image of the attacker? Maybe all we need to do is let her see him?" Nick suggested.

Catherine looked at Brass, who shrugged.

***********************************************************************

Part 7  



	7. 7

Part 7

Catherine was silent as she watched and waited for Caroline's reaction. Sam was pacing the room and finally stopped, sitting down beside his wife and signing at her furiously. Catherine had learnt enough sign language to know that he wasn't entirely impressed with the idea.

Caroline carefully placed a hand on one of her husbands and squeezed it slightly. She smiled wanly at him. "I know," she murmured.

Catherine watched the emotions flit between the couple and it reminded her of her relationship with Gil. They didn't have to hear each other to communicate…their relationship went much deeper than that.

"All I have to do is look and point?"

Catherine nodded. "Just look at him. Maybe you'll remember something."

Sam had been watching them for a few moments and then, angry, stood up and stalked from the room. Caroline's eyes closed and she sighed before opening them again.

"He didn't seem to take that very well," Catherine said, sinking down into a chair opposite her friend.

"I'm sorry. He just…it's almost as if he took what happened harder than I did." Caroline's eyes lifted to meet Catherine's. "And it's not just the baby."

Catherine nodded. "I'm sorry that I upset him. I really want to catch him."

"Me too. It's just…" She sighed again and rubbed her forehead. "This couldn't have happened at a worse time."

Catherine frowned slightly. "How so?"

Caroline smiled slightly. "I'm pregnant."

"Really?" Catherine asked, a smile taking over her face.

Caroline nodded. "About three months. I…I just told Sam today so he's probably a little conflicted right now. As I am."

Catherine took one of her hands and squeezed it. "I promise I will do anything I can to help."

"I know. Tell me when you want me down there."

"Are you sure?"

Caroline nodded. "I can't move on until he's put away. And I know Sam can't either. And if I'm going to have another baby…I have to do this."

Catherine smiled. "I promise we'll be there with you all the way."  
*******************************************************************

"Pregnant?" Gil said, arching an eyebrow.

Catherine nodded. "Three months. She's still going to come in and see him though. Sam's not happy about it."

"I never expected he would be," Gil replied. He beckoned her around to him and swiftly pulled her into his lap. "What's bothering you?"

"You can always tell, can't you?" she smirked and kissed him gently. She sobered again took his hand, laying her palm against his and smiling at how small her hand seemed in his big one. "When I watched them today, Sam and Caroline, it reminded me of us. How we don't need to talk or hear to communicate."

He nodded and looked down at their joined hands. "It's called love, Catherine."

She hugged him. "I know." She squeezed his hand. "Gil, we've known each other for a long time, right?"

"Mhm," he replied, nuzzling her neck.

"And we love each other."

"Very much."

"And we live together."

He looked up at her. "Yes."  


She arched an eyebrow. "How do you know what you're saying yes to?"

"We don't need words to communicate, Catherine. Remember?"

"Then why haven't you asked me?"

He let his hands rest around her waist. "I didn't want to rush you. After what's happened in your life…I didn't want you to be pressured."  


She took one of his hands and placed it over her heart. "That's all that matters, Gil. In there."

Gil smiled and kissed her. "Marry me."

"Yes," she replied, hugging him close to her. "Yes."

************************************************************************

"I'm sorry," Caroline murmured.

"For what?" Sam asked, looking up from where he was leaning in his head on her stomach.

"About everything."

He moved up to lie beside her.

"It wasn't your fault. I just don't want you to get hurt again."

"I have to put this to rest. For all of us."

********************************************************************

"Married?" Lindsey said, looking between Gil and Catherine.

Gil nodded. "Is that okay?"

Lindsey smiled. "Sure. Just the same rules as before. No mushy stuff in public."

Catherine grinned. "Are you sure you're okay with this, Linds? Gil and I don't want to rush you into anything."

Lindsey rolled her eyes. "Mum, you've been making googly eyes at each other ever since I was old enough to notice. It's enough time already!"

********************************************************************

Thomas Mantle leaned back in the chair, chewing on some gum. Catherine stared back at him, hatred consuming her and yet her resolve fighting to stay professional.

"So, Mr Mantle, any questions?" Brass asked, after Catherine laid some of the evidence for him.

Thomas shrugged. "Whatever you reckon."

"Do the names Jessica Shaw, Miranda Green or Caroline Farrell mean anything to you?"

Thomas shrugged again. "Should they?"

Catherine looked at Brass. "Don't worry. He won't know who they are. Because names and lives don't matter to our friend, Tommy here." She stood up. "Only pain and suffering and getting what he wants does." She leaned over him. "Right Tommy?"

Thomas Mantle leered at her, running his eyes up and down her body.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Mr Mantle. I'm not pregnant," Catherine growled at him.

"Catherine," Brass warned.

A knock came on the door and Warrick peeked in. "She's here."

Catherine stood up straight again and went out the door.

"Hey," she smiled, seeing Caroline waiting there. "How are you feeling?"

Caroline shrugged. "Is there a particular emotion that fits this moment in time?"

"True," Catherine nodded. "He's in there." 

Caroline moved over to the one-way glass and peered in. Thomas Mantle was sitting there, chewing manically on his gum. He was rolling his eyes at Jim Brass. Caroline's eyes closed momentarily, trying to remember back.

"How much longer do I have to be here?" Thomas Mantle drawled.

Caroline froze. She knew that voice. She remembered the way it taunted her. 

"It's him," she said.

Catherine came and stood beside her. "Are you sure?"

"I remember that voice. The way it taunted me. It's him."

************************************************************************

Part 8  



	8. 8

Part 8  
  


1 Year Later

"Does he have a name?" Lindsey asked, peering at her new baby brother. "And I'm not changing his diaper."

"Andrew James Grissom," Gil said proudly. "And if it helps your mother and I, you will be changing his diaper."

Lindsey wrinkled her nose. "Gross. But it's not a bad name." She smiled at her mother. "And we're all Grissom's now."

Catherine nodded, taking Andrew from Gil. "That's for sure."

"Can we come in?" Sara asked, peeking around the doorway.

"Sure," Catherine replied.

"Stay out there," Sara instructed her husband, Nick. "Catherine doesn't need guys crowding around her."

She walked inside, followed by Caroline, who was holding onto her daughter, Claire.

"Honestly, lately Nick has been driving me nuts, telling me to take it easy, being pregnant is a hard job." Sara sighed. "Like men have any clue."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Imagine the car ride over."

Catherine laughed as Gil proudly introduced the new addition to the Grissom family.

"He's gorgeous," Sara said. "Congratulations, guys."

Nick poked his head around the door. "Are you sure we can't come in?"

"Nicholas Michael Stokes! How many times do I have to say it?" Sara said, turning around and following him out. "You're driving me insane."

"Their kid is going to need a hell of a lot of therapy," Warrick said, coming in. "Congratulations, guys."

"Thanks Warrick," Catherine replied. She turned to Caroline. "Where's Sam and Lauren?"

"Probably refereeing between Nick and Sara."

As if on cue, the argument became a little louder. Warrick groaned.

"I'll talk to you guys later. I better get out there before they disturb the entire maternity ward."

Caroline hoisted Claire up onto her hip. "I better go too. This one is going to need a N-A-P soon. Congratulations again."

Lindsey had followed everyone out, so now Catherine and Gil were alone with the newest addition to the family. Gil carefully took the baby from his wife and nestled him in the bassinet.

"You did good, Cath," he murmured, sitting beside her on the bed. "He's perfect."

"Well," she said, snuggling closer. "I can't take all the credit. You helped."  
He smirked. "I did what I could."

Catherine nodded. "Mhm. And you did it really good." She yawned. "Sleep now." She shimmied over a little and he led down next to her, pulling her into his arms.

"Sleep well, Catherine," he murmured, kissing her forehead. "I love you."

"Love you back," she mumbled, snuggling closer and closing her eyes."

FINIS  
  
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